The Kalininsky District Court of Ufa sentenced truck driver Yevgeny Bukarev to eight years in a general regime penal colony under the article on dissemination of "military fakes" motivated by political hatred (clause "d" of Part 2 of Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). This was reported by the publication "Mediazona".
Bukarev was also banned from administering websites for four years. It is still unknown why the case was opened. According to the court registry, the verdict was not in absentia, although in a January interview with the TV2 project, Bukarev said that he had emigrated to the United States.
In late April 2022, the man hung a Ukrainian flag he had sewn himself on his eleventh-floor balcony, took it down a couple of days later, and went on a trip. Between trips, local video blogger Arslan Nigamatyanov, posing as a journalist from the BST TV channel, interviewed him. The blogger released a video on his YouTube channel in which Bukarev, in particular, says that he does not support the war. During another trip, the police came to the truck driver's home, so upon his return, the man stayed with friends. However, on May 9, 2022, he was detained, a report was drawn up under the article on discrediting the army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) because of the flag, and a transcript of a fragment of the interview from YouTube was also attached to the case materials. On the same day, the Kalininsky District Court fined Bukarev 30 thousand rubles.
Shortly after the court ruling, on May 15, Bukarev, his wife and seven-year-old son left Russia for the United States. The man says the reason for his departure was the threat of detention, since the security forces told him: "If any more actions are repeated, we will lock you up."
In November 2023, Bukarev's relatives were searched in connection with a criminal case. According to relatives, the case was opened under the article on repeated discrediting of the army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code), however, apparently, it was still about the dissemination of knowingly false information about the armed forces motivated by hatred (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code).
- Since February 24, 2022 — the first day of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — residents of Russian cities have been taking part in anti-war protests and talking about the tragedy online every day. Anti-war speeches and statements are becoming grounds for criminal prosecution. At the moment, more than 850 people have become defendants in criminal cases initiated due to protests against the war with Ukraine. Read more about this in our infographic .
Article 207.3 (Public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the armed forces of the Russian Federation) was included in the Criminal Code in March 2022 — this is how the authorities responded to anti-war speeches and statements, as well as the dissemination of information about the war that does not come from official Russian sources. The maximum penalty under the article is 15 years in prison.